As a result of advances in color computer matching and in the development of precise metering and dispensing machines, paint manufacturers and producers of pigment dispersions, or colorants, have prepared formulating guides for as many as six thousand different colors for interior and exterior architectural coatings. With this many colors, it may be difficult for all but those having excellent color perception, or trained technicians, to discern the differences between closely-related hues in the color spectrum.
A system containing a lesser number of colors, for example, 2300 colors, does result in differences between colors which are generally discernable by consumers having average color perception. Many paint manufacturers have found that systems having about 1200, or 900, or as few as about 600 different colors are sufficient to satisfy their retail markets.
It will be understood that the manufacturer's decision with respect to the number of different colors to be offered in the system is of great practical and economic significance. Each system, whether it has 600 or 2300 different colors, must be supported by a variety of color identification and/or selection guides. A variety of color identification and selection guides have been developed for use in connection with the sale of protective and decorative coatings and architectural finishes, which for convenience, will hereafter be referred to collectively as "paints. These guides take the form of display racks into which are placed elongated paper strips that have been coated with a plurality of stripes of different colors representative of the colors of the dried finishes produced by the custom mixed paints. Each position in the rack is stocked with a permanently affixed paper strip and a number of identical removable take-home strips for use by prospective customers. The strips are provided in sizes that range from about two-by-three inches, to four to six inches, or up to 9.5 inches in length by about 1.5 to 2.5 inches in width. This type of merchandising aid, or sales tool, must be supported by an inventory of refills of the colored take-home strips.
Other types of merchandising aids include fan decks which are constructed from a stack of elongated strips ranging in length from about seven inches to about eleven inches and measuring from about 1.5 inches to about 2.5 inches in width, the stack being provided with a front and rear cover and assembled with a threaded fastener through one corner. Each of the elongated strips is provided with a plurality of color stripes, usually separated by white or neutral transverse lines extending across the width of the strip. The strips employed in the fan deck employ the same colors in the same sequence as appear on the strips placed in the display rack, and typically combine two different, but somehow related take-home strips in a single strip that is approximately twice the length of the take-home strip.
Other types of merchandising aids include counter books which have pages containing color chips for all of the colors in the system; and architects files and architects binders in the form of perforated sheets that permit the easy separation from the sheets of smaller rectangular color chips for use in connection with architectural drawings, color schemes, or for use in connection with the selection of interior decor and furnishings.
As presently designed and used, the elongated paper strip take-home cards placed in the display racks, and as assembled into the fan decks, typically include four or five related colors, but the colors range from a very light pastel to a so-called deep tone or accent tone, these latter two being more saturated with color than the pastel and mid-tone colors. It has been found that the great majority of consumers are initially interested in, and eventually purchase the pastels, or lighter colors in the spectrum. Thus, in removing take-home cards from the display racks of the prior art, the customer is only interested in one of the five colors on each strip. Moreover, because the customers will want to have several closely-related pastels to take home for final selection, a number of adjacent cards must be removed from the rack. In each case, the card has five greatly varying colors, even though the customer has an interest that is limited to only the pastel color stripe on each of the several cards. The retailer must, of course, be attentive to restocking the rack to insure that there is an adequate supply of take-home cards in each position. Storage and inventorying the replacement cards can be problematical, not only from the view point of the individual retailer (whether it be a neighborhood hardware store or national home center), but also for the paint manufacturer. Both checking the condition of the rack and adding individual cards requires care and time, thus adding labor charges to the cost of employing the prior art system.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved color display and selection system which is based on lightness values, or levels, that can be vertically or horizontally arranged and that ranges from pastels through accent colors. Another object of this invention is to provide a color display and selection system that is more economical for the paint or colorant manufacturer to produce and which is also more economical for the paint retailer to maintain.
It is a further object to provide an improved color display and selection system which provides the prospective customer with a take-home card which contains only a plurality of closely-related color stripes from the same family or type of base paint, whether it be a pastel, tint, deep or accent base.
It is another object of this invention to provide an improved color display and selection system in which the take-home cards or strips containing the pastel colors are significantly larger than the other base colors.
Another object of the invention is to provide an improved color system that is better organized than the presently known systems used in connection with the selection and retail sales of custom-mixed paints from the standpoint of ease of selection by the consumer, the simplicity of the color schemes and in providing a greater visual difference between the colors displayed.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide the paint manufacturers and retailers with greater flexibility in deciding on the size of the system, or the number of colors to be offered, providing a system that is easy to customize, including by having fewer or greater numbers of bases, to expand or reduce the number of colors offered to account for market size as well as regional preferences, to provide greater versatility in the layout or organization of the colors in the rack and as a result of one or more of the above objectives to provide a cost savings, as compared to systems of the prior art.
In describing the invention, the following terms will be understood to have the indicated meanings:
Base--any one of a predetermined number of liquid paint compositions comprising the vehicle, binder, various additives and, optionally, titanium dioxide, to which the pigment dispersion or colorant is added. The base can be of the water borne type (e.g., latex) or the solvent borne type (e.g., alkyd). The paint retailer must maintain an inventory of each of the different types of bases required to custom-mix with the colorants to obtain the colors displayed on the take-home cards, color selection and identification panels, color chips and other merchandising or sales aids provided for the system. PA1 Pastel Base--a base containing from 1.7 to 2.5 pounds, but preferably from 2.0 pounds to 2.2 pounds of titanium dioxide and comprising 124-128 fluid ounces; up to 2 ounces of colorant can be added to provide about a gallon (128 ounces) of paint. A pastel base without colorant contains sufficient hiding power to be used as a paint due to its titanium dioxide content. PA1 Tint Base--a base containing from 1.5 to 2.0 pounds, but preferably from about 1.5 pounds to 1.68 pounds of titanium dioxide in 122-126 fluid ounces; from two ounces to four ounces of colorant can be added to provide about a gallon of paint. PA1 Deep Base--a base containing from 0.5 to 1.0 pounds, but preferably from 0.50 pounds to 0.68 pounds of titanium dioxide in 118-124 fluid ounces; up to eight ounces of colorant can be added to provide about a gallon of paint. PA1 Accent Base--a clear or transparent base consisting of 112-118 fluid ounces containing no titanium dioxide; up to twelve ounces of colorant can be added to provide about a gallon of paint Alkyd Paint--paints using alkyd resins as vehicles; these paints are thinned with solvent, such as mineral spirits. PA1 Latex Paint--paints using emulsion resins as binders; these can be acrylic, butadienestyrene, polyvinyl acetate or vinyl-acrylic emulsion resin vehicles, and are thinned with water. PA1 Chroma--the brightness or dullness of a color; the saturation of a color. PA1 Hue--the color being considered, for example, red, blue, yellow, green, etc. through the visible color spectrum. PA1 Value--the lightness or darkness of a color; white is at one end and black is at the other. PA1 Inorganic Colorants--earth colors; usually oxides such as red, yellow, brown or umber which are high-hiding pigments due to opacity and concentration. PA1 Mass Tone Color--usually the darkest color concentration in which the hue of the color can be distinguished. In color systems, the 12 ounce-per-gallon level is called mass-tone. This is normally the maximum addition of colorant because greater amounts can weaken paint film properties. PA1 Organic Colorants--producing by organic chemical synthetis ; pigments are brighter, clearer and cleaner and are used alone to provide pastel hues. PA1 Tinting Base Strength--the whiteness of a base; the higher the titanium content, the lighter the color value will be with an established level of colorant.